Alfredo Amezaga (Angels), SS
Groomed to be the Angels' shortstop of the future, Amezaga is on an
accelerated track to assume the position in Edison Field. Before starting
his third season in the Angels' organization, the 23-year-old native of
Sonora, Mexico was invited to the the big-league camp and wowed everyone
with his speed and myriad of defensive talents. None of the luster has faded
during Amezaga's first season on the Double-A level; he is hitting .306 for
the Arkansas Travelers in the Texas League, with 22 steals, and has flashed
surprising extra-base power, with a total of 16 long hits.

Grant Balfour (Twins), P
A native of Australia, Grant Balfour has posted great numbers as the closer for the Twins' Double-A affiliate, New Britain. He has a 2-1 record, 1.38 ERA and 12 saves for the Rock Cats but his other statistics are even more impressive. In 39 innings of work this year, Balfour has allowed just 20 hits and 19 walks while striking out 53. Signed from Down Under as an undrafted free agent in 1997, Balfour, 23, has been impressive at every level he's pitched. He also pitched for Team Australia at the 2000 Olympics in his hometown of Sydney.

Erik Bedard (Orioles), P
A sixth-round pick in 1999, Bedard is having a stellar season for the Frederick Keys. He leads the Keys in wins at 8-2, has a 2.37 ERA and has recorded a team-best 90 strikeouts in 12 games. He has surrendered only 18 earned runs and 18 walks in 68 1/3 innings this season. He was named to the Carolina League All-Star team this year.

Angel Berroa (Royals), SS
Berroa is batting .237 this year for Double-A Wichita. He has 22 hits, two triples, three home runs and 13 RBIs. He has played in 26 games and has 93 at-bats for the Wranglers. He was acquired from Oakland in trade that sent Johnny Damon to Oakland, Ben Grieve to Tampa Bay and Roberto Hernandez to Kansas City. Last year in the California League, he hit .277 with 10 home runs and 63 RBIs.

Wilson Betemit (Braves), SS
Regarded as the Braves top prospect by Baseball America, Betemit is hitting .279 with six homers and 41 RBIs for the Class-A Myrtle Beach Pelicans this year. Last year, the 20-year old Betemit hit .331 with five homers and 37 RBIs in 69 games.

Miguel Cabrera (Marlins), SS
Is currently hitting .296 with 15 doubles and 51 RBI for Class-A Kane County in the Midwest League. Signed as a non-drafted free agent on July 2, 1999, in 2000, he ranked first in at-bats, second in games played and fifth in runs scored in the Gulf Coast League. This is his first Futures Game appearance.

Juan Cruz (Cubs), P
The 6-2, 155-pounder is a right-handed starter out of Donao, Dominican Republic. In his first 15 starts this season, Cruz is 7-1 with a 3.16 ERA. The 20-year-old was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Cubs on July 4, 1997. In 2000, he was rated the second-best prospect in both the Midwest and Florida State Leagues by Baseball America.

Alex Escobar (Mets), OF
The 22-year-old, considered a five-tool player, was signed as a non-drafted free agent in July of 1995. He's had two stints with the parent club this season; both coming after players on the Mets went down with injuries. He's hitting .216 in 11 games with the Mets with one homer and four RBI. Escobar is hitting .270 with nine homers and 31 RBI in 63 games with AAA Norfolk. He leads the team with 109 total bases.

Luis Garcia (Red Sox), 1B
First baseman Luis Garcia currently ranks second in the Boston Red Sox minor league system in home runs (13) and RBIs (47) and fourth in batting with a .304 average. The 22-year-old native of Guadalajara, Mexico was promoted to Double-A Trenton in June after excelling as a member of Class-A Sarasota. In 65 games with the SaraSox, Garcia hit .303 (38-for-267) with 14 doubles, a triple, 12 home runs and 44 RBIs. With runners in scoring position and two outs, the infielder had a .410 average. The 6-4, 184-pounder spent the 2000 season with Single-A Augusta, leading the club with 20 home runs and second in runs (72) and RBIs (77). The first baseman was also named to the South Atlantic League's Southern All-Star team in 2000. Garcia was signed by the Red Sox as a non-drafted free agent in 1996.

Carlos Hernandez (Astros), P
A native of Venezuela and product of the Astros' Venezuelan Baseball Academy, Hernandez participated in last season's Futures Game in Atlanta. The diminutive lefty allowed one run in one inning of work for the World Team. Hernandez made a name for himself this year before the regular season was even underway. The 21 year old tossed five perfect innings for the Round Rock Express (Double-A) in an exhibition game against the Astros at Enron Field on April 1. With 20,000-plus in attendance, Hernandez fanned three batters and sat down 15 in a row against the powerful big-league lineup. This year Hernandez is 9-3 with 4.03 ERA in 96 innings of work. He also leads the Texas League in strikeouts with 127.

Alex Herrera (Indians), P
Alex Herrera has put up ridiculous stats in Class-A Kinston. He has a 4-0 record with a 0.50 ERA, three earned runs and 76 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings, while his opponents are hitting just .168. The 20-year-old left-hander won Player of the Week honors for the week of May 17-23 in the Carolina League. Herrera was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Tribe in 1997. If he continues to overpower the minor league competition, his road to Cleveland may be a short one.

Felipe Lopez (Blue Jays), IF
Lopez, 21, was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays eighth overall in 1998 and has been impressive ever since. He only played 23 games after signing on August 11, 1998, getting playing time in the New York-Penn State League and Single-A Dunedin. He really started his development at Single-A Hagerstown in 1999 and continued to show the skills of a quality prospect. He finished batting .277 with 27 doubles and 80 RBIs in 134 games and was ranked the second-best Jays prospect by Baseball America. He moved up to Double-A in 2000 and
had an average year batting .257 in a 127 games with the Tennessee Smokies.
So far in 2001 he is batting .286 for Triple-A Syracuse, while playing both second and shortstop.

Miguel Olivo (White Sox), C
One of the top catching prospects in baseball, the strong-armed Olivo was obtained by the White Sox from Oakland in an off-season trade for pitcher Chad Bradford. The 22-year-old backstop is in his fourth year of professional baseball, playing at Double-A Birmingham. As the Barons' every-day catcher this summer, Olivo has hit nine home runs and knocked in 33 runs through June 27.

Bill Ortega (Cardinals), OF
The Cardinals are not one of the more active organizations in the foreign market, but they picked up an imposing right-handed hitter in Ortega after he defected from Cuba in 1997. He and second-baseman Jesus Amatller, another Cardinals farmhand, defected to Costa Rica where agent Joe Cubas got them pro contracts. Ortega played in last year's Futures Game in Atlanta, but his stellar year at Double-A Arkansas (.325, 12 HR, 62 RBIs in 86 games) was cut short by freak July collision with an umpire. Ortega was promoted to Triple-A Memphis this season, where he is hitting .281 with 17 doubles, four home runs and 35 RBIs through 77 games. Ortega is primarily a left fielder.

Carlos Pena (Rangers), 1B
Texas' first-round selection in 1998 (10th overall), Pena has had a down year by his standards, hitting just .233 with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs at Triple-A Oklahoma. But he has played better of late, including going 5-for-9 in his last two games with one homer and five RBIs. Pena was among Texas League (AA) leaders last season in games (1st - 138), runs (1st - 117), RBIs (2nd - 105), walks (2nd - 101), hits (T2nd - 158), doubles (3rd - 36), extra base hits (3rd - 66), home runs (T3rd - 28), and slugging (5th - .533), topping Tulsa in each category. He hit .299 with the Drillers in 2000. Pena was listed as the 10th top prospect in baseball by Baseball America earlier this spring, known for his good bat and wonderful character. He also played on the World Team in last year's Futures Game in Atlanta.

Juan Pena (A's), P
Peña, 21, is at Double-A Midland (Texas), and through July 1 he was 7-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 16 starts. Last season, at Single-A Modesto, he led the California League with 177 strikeouts in 154 innings. Both were career highs, and the strikeouts were the most in the A's system. A 6-foot-3, 189-pounder from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Peña will play for the World Team.

Wily Mo Pena (Reds), RF
The Reds acquired Pena from the New York Yankees on March 21, 2001. He has
played 77 games this season for Single-A Dayton in the Midwest League and is batting .273 with 15 homers, 53 runs scored and a team-high 70 RBIs. The
Yankees signed the right-handed hitting Pena as a non-drafted free agent in
1999. Following the 2000 season, He was ranked as the ninth-best prospect by
Baseball America. This is his first Futures Game appearance.

Joel Pineiro (Mariners), P
A starter throughout most of his professional career, Pineiro is being
groomed as a future setup reliever at Triple-A Tacoma (Wash.). In 18
appearances with the Rainiers this season, including 10 starts, he has a 6-3
record and 3.62 ERA, striking out 64 in 77 innings. Pineiro spent 55 days
with the Mariners last season, going 1-0 in eight appearances, beating the
eventual AL Central Division champion White Sox on August 8 in Chicago.

Juan Rivera (Yankees), OF
Rated as the top prospect in the Gulf Coast League in 1998 by managers in a
Baseball America survey, Rivera led the league in home runs, RBIs and total
bases. The right-handed hitter has raw power and a tremendous throwing arm.
With Class-AA Norwich this season, he is hitting .320 with 14 home runs and 58 RBIs in
77 games. Rivera, 23, was signed as a free agent in 1996.

Mike Rivera (Tigers), C
Rivera was signed as a non-drafted free agent in 1997. He split time with Class-A Lakeland, Jacksonville and Triple-A Toledo in 2000 before joining the Erie (AA) Seawolves this season. Rivera is hitting .302 with 15 doubles and 22 RBIs in 67 games this year. In 1998 he was named the Midwest League's best defensive catcher, and appeared in the 1998 film For the Love of the Game with Kevin Costner.

Ricardo Rodriguez (Dodgers), P
The Dodger organization's Pitcher of the Month last July and August, Rodriguez makes his first appearance in the Futures Game. While pitching for Rookie level Great Falls last season, he led the Pioneer League in every major pitching category including wins (10), strikeouts (129) and complete games (2). His 10-3 record last year has already been duplicated for Single-A Vero Beach this season, as his 10 wins lead the Florida State
League and his 98 strikeouts in 100 innings rank second. He pitched a scoreless inning in the recent FSL All-Star game on June 16.

Wilkin Ruan (Expos), OF
Wilkin Ruan has been described as a disruptive player on the base paths. His blazing speed allows him to be a veritable threat on the bases an outstanding defensive player with good range. A fast and athletic leadoff hitter and center fielder at AA-Harrisburg, Ruan was recently promoted from Class-A Jupiter where he hit .283 and stole 25 bases in 72 games. For Cape Fear last season, Ruan finished second in the South Atlantic League in stolen bases (64) and hits (165), fourth in triples (10) and tied for fifth in runs scored (95). He led the league in official at-bats (574) and was fourth in games played (134). Ruan led the Cape Fear Crocs with 20 infield hits. He also has a terrific arm posting 18 assists last year for the second consecutive season.

Jae Seo (Mets), P
A non-drafted free agent, Seo, 24, was signed by the Mets in December of 1997. The South Korean native is back on the mound after sitting out all of last season with elbow surgery. Seo is 5-1 this season with a 1.72 ERA in 10 games for the AA Binghamton Mets. He has 55 strikeouts in 52 1/3 innings, has walked only nine and allowed three homers. Seo is the closest of the Mets top pitching prospects to reaching the Major Leagues. He projects to be with the parent club by the end of next season but may get a shot at making the roster next spring.

Seung Jun Song (Red Sox), P
Song is one of only a handful of Single-A players selected to play in the Futures Game. The 21-year-old native of Korea has struck out 79 batters in 75 innings for the Augusta GreenJackets, allowing no more than one run in nine of his 14 starts. Song was the starter and winner in the South Atlantic League's All-Star Game, and ranks sixth in the league with a 3-2 record and 2.04 ERA through June 27. Last season with the Lowell Spinners, the 6-1, 192-pound right-hander lead the New York-Penn League with 93 strikeouts. Song, signed as a free agent in 1999, was considered Korea's top amateur after he pitched Kyung Nam High School in Pusan to Korea's national high school championship in 1998. Song was promoted to Class-A Sarasota of the Florida State League after the SAL All-Star Game and won his first start with the SaraSox on July 2, giving up two runs on five hits in six innings.

Jose Valverde (Diamondbacks), RHP
Signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Diamondbacks in 1997, Valverde is one of the organization's top pitching prospects. A power closer in the Armando Benitez/Roberto Hernandez mold, Valverde possesses a 95-97-mile-an-hour fastball. He has 12 saves and has struck out 65 batters in 36.1 innings for Double-A El Paso this season.